Compact Micro-ATX case

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

ajr

New Member
Oct 14, 2019
5
3
3
I used a Sama IM01 case for a small home server and later used a second one for a desk top build. It was the smallest case I could find that fit an mATX board and was pretty cheap.
 

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
412
62
28
Czech republic
Looks like I can resurrect this thread.
I am getting rid of HDDs for SSDs and won't need a case with an entire HDD compartment with two bays or something.
I just need to be able to mount four U.2 SSDs with a fan blowing on them.
The board is micro-ATX.
What I definitely need is a case that's as dust proof as humanly possible, because the server obviously runs 24/7.
 

Patriot

Moderator
Apr 18, 2011
1,451
792
113
Looks like I can resurrect this thread.
I am getting rid of HDDs for SSDs and won't need a case with an entire HDD compartment with two bays or something.
I just need to be able to mount four U.2 SSDs with a fan blowing on them.
The board is micro-ATX.
What I definitely need is a case that's as dust proof as humanly possible, because the server obviously runs 24/7.
Dust proof just needs positive pressure and dust covers.
There is a NR200 knockoff that added a slot for mATX support.

I doubt you will find tiny cases with adequate u.2 mounting, I expect you will have to get creative.
The sama has lots of 120mm mounts so it has cooling if you have creativity.
 

itronin

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2018
1,242
804
113
Denver, Colorado
Aren't U.2 SSDs basically 2,5"? Should mount into any kind of whatever adapter out there, shouldn't they?
U.2 have the same screw mounting template as 2.5" drives's. U.2 are typically either 7mm or 15mm in height. U.2's run a lot hotter than any SATA SSD (or HDD) that I am aware of. They require reasonably good airflow.
 

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
412
62
28
Czech republic
Looks like I would have to buy some sort of adapters to mount 2,5" drives in the 3,5" cages in the Node 804, because the 2,5" mount locations suck and I wouldn't be able to mount a fan anywhere near them. I might as well buy a new case instead, but I haven't had any luck finding anything similar or smaller. There's the Thermaltake Core V21, but it's even bigger, which sucks.
 

NPS

Active Member
Jan 14, 2021
147
44
28
I have a Jonsbo V9 and quite like it. For U.2 mounting I would build some kind of a combination of cage and air-shroud that stands on top of the bottom fan that's nearer to the front. So the fan would directly blow fresh air around the SSDs which were mounted with their connectors oriented towards the top of the case. I can not say anything about its dust proofness, because I generally remove all filters for better airflow. If this case should be somehow to small, there's the Jonsbo D30. It hat 4x 2.5" mounting points, but for U.2 I would do the same as described above because of cooling.
 

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
412
62
28
Czech republic
Anyone has any more tips?
Also, the SSDs I have are regular 2,5" ones after all.

This is not a priority whatsoever, but I would still love to make the server smaller.
Obviously, it just has the be smaller than the Node 804 (344 x 307 x 389 mm).

Thus far I could only find M1 from Ncases that would fit the size bill.
 

BlueFox

Legendary Member Spam Hunter Extraordinaire
Oct 26, 2015
2,091
1,507
113
NCASE M1 is not mATX. Also discontinued for a couple years now.
 

BlueFox

Legendary Member Spam Hunter Extraordinaire
Oct 26, 2015
2,091
1,507
113
Looks like the M1 EVO is a fork of the original project and has gotten considerably larger. Doesn't appear you can buy it currently however.
 

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
412
62
28
Czech republic
Yep, it's one of those once in a while products.
I don't really mind it to be larger just as long as it's not a huge box like the Node 804 is. The funny part is I don't need to care, because the space on the rack isn't used for anything else, but I like minimalism, lol.

I would normally look for even smaller cases, but Mini-ITX motherboards typically don't have two PCIe slots, and my server uses a HBA and 10Gb NIC so I'm pretty limited in that regard.
 

nautilus7

New Member
Apr 30, 2016
2
1
3
40
Hi, l am also looking for an m-atx case with as many as possible 3.5" hdd positions. Is there any better than the node 804 which can hold 6 drives?
 

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
412
62
28
Czech republic
I started looking into this again, and took another pass over Jonsbo's website.
There are a few cases I really like that would have the right dimensions/sides ratio, but most of them only support 2x2,5" or 1x3,5" drives. I need to have 3x2,5" installed somehow.

Perhaps someone here has experience with Jonsbo products and could give me some idea, and perhaps someone knows about adapters of some sort that would solve the problem.

Anyway, the cases I liked are:
乔思伯JONSBO - this one actually does support 3x2,5"

What do you think?
 

NPS

Active Member
Jan 14, 2021
147
44
28
I had the U3. It is quite nice because you can fit larger CPU heatsinks (the other models are way to limited in that regard in my opinion). The U3 has got spare volume at the bottom (just lay an SSD there or tie it to the grill) and in the top of the front (probably only double sided tape will help here)
 

NPS

Active Member
Jan 14, 2021
147
44
28
Having read (parts of) the thread again I think you won't find a decent combination of U.2 cooling and dust proof in any of those. I guess you should think again about the Jonsbo V9 again. In my current homeserver I use a FDM printed shroud to have one 80mm fan cool 2x U.2 and 1 BCM57414 (fits 2 NICs). This shroud works wonders and makes my server dead silent. In the V9 you can easily use the front-most bottom 120mm fan to mount a 4x 2.5" bracket/shroud to it.
 

Octopuss

Active Member
Jun 30, 2019
412
62
28
Czech republic
Oh? This must be an old thread then. I never bought any, I guess it was an idea I ditched early on. I have 3x2,5" SSDs in the server now.
 
Last edited: